Alex slid into her seat at the head table and eyed her lunch with distaste. She'd considered skipping the meal, but had quickly rejected the idea. I don't need another confrontation with Madam Pomfrey about not eating. She suffered through the next half hour, chatting with her colleagues with forced cheerfulness and pushing her food around on her plate. Two free hours, she thought with relief as she left the great hall. Maybe I'll send Naomi an email. She snorted, a brief burst of humorless laughter. Or maybe I'll just lie in my bed and cry for a while. Thank Merlin for Cosmetic Charms.

Severus Snape caught up to her in the corridor, black robes flapping. "Alex. We have to talk."

She kept walking, glancing over at him coldly. "If it's work-related, I'll tolerate a brief conversation, Professor Snape. Very brief."

"It's been three days. I was hoping you'd have calmed down enough by now to-"

She stopped and cut him off. "I am perfectly calm. Let's get something straight, Professor Snape. You can count on me to behave in a professional manner in front of the students and the staff. But I will not be having any personal conversations with you, is that clear ? You get within five feet of me...hell, if you say one unnecessary word to me, I'll hex you into the middle of next week." Her wand was in her hand, ready to make good on her threat. She pushed past him and strode to her rooms. There. I think I handled that pretty well.

The doorknob rattled. A voice, muffled by the heavy door, intoned "Alohomora." She hit him with a disarming spell as he stepped into the room. He deflected it. "Alex. Please. I can explain -"

"Leviosa !" A chair flew across the room, narrowly missing Snape's head as he ducked. It shattered against the wall. "Bastard. Get out."

"Reparo." Snape left the chair lying on its side. He eyed her warily, wand poised to defend himself. "That chair is a sixteenth-century antique," he pointed out. "Let's try to deal with this like adults, shall we ?"

"I said, get out !" Sparks flew as Alex launched a volley of magical curses, interspersed with mundane ones. He deflected the spells. "Asshole. I hate you. Leave me alone."

"No. Not until we work this out. I can explain, if you'd let me-"

"You already did explain. Remember ?" She screamed at him. "Remember ? Of course you remember, nobody messed with your memory !"

Severus took a step towards her. She brandished her wand. He stepped back. "I'm sorry. I...know that I...behaved badly."

"Oh, is that what you call it ?" her voice dripped sarcasm. "I'd call it assault. Bastard."

"I did not assault you." He paused, frowning. "Well, I supposed I did, technically," he muttered. "But I stopped. No harm done..."

"Argh ! You think that's funny ?" Enraged, Alex cast more levitation spells, hurling another chair and two side tables in rapid succession. Snape deflected them, sending them crashing to the floor.

"Petrificus totalus," he roared. "Would you stop breaking things and listen to me ?"

"Protego !" Alex deflected the hex. "Son of a bitch. Asshole. You obliviated me ! Gods, you messed with my mind. And you want me to, what ? Forgive you ?"

"I've told you, I'm sorry." He lowered his voice. "Can we please just... talk about what's bothering you ?"

"What's bothering me is that you're still here. I don't want to talk to you. I trusted you, and then you...you just stole a chunk of my mind. For what ? Just for your own amusement. You sick bastard. What you did to me was...was almost worse than rape." Alex started to cry. Hesitantly, Snape stepped towards her. He reached out as though to attempt to comfort her. "Ungh ! I told you to stay away from me !" She dashed away the tears, furious. "Arion hortensis !" Snape deflected her curse a moment too late. She watched, wide-eyed, as he doubled over, retching. A slug, easily eight inches long, slithered out of his mouth.

Severus stared back at her for a moment, then vomited half a dozen more slugs onto the floor. Drawing a deep breath, he attempted to put an end to the spell. "Finite incantatum." More retching bore witness to his failure. Alex watched in horrified fascination as his face contorted. Another huge slug dropped out of his mouth. "You...bitch !" He gagged, then bent double again. Slugs plopped onto the floor, began crawling away, leaving thick trails of slime. Alex felt a flash of sympathy despite her anger. She took a step forward, uncertain, half intending to try and help. "Get away," he choked. "Locomotor mortis !" Caught off guard, Alex fell to the floor, landing hard as her legs stiffened uncontrollably and snapped together. It knocked the wind out of her. Enraged, she drew breath to curse him again. Snape spit onto the floor and cast his own spell before she could get the words out. "Expelliarmus !" Her wand skittered out of her hand. Gagging as another uncontrollable flow of slugs erupted from his mouth, he whirled and stalked from the room.

Alex lay on the floor for a moment, catching her breath. "Accio wand," she muttered. It flew into her hand. "Ungh," she let out a cry of frustration, angrily wiping away tears. If I could just stop crying... "Gods, this spell hurts. Finite incantatum." Her dispel attempt failed, just as Snape's had. Alex lay her head down and let the tears flow.

-----

A soft knock sounded at the door. Alex ignored it. She'd managed to repair one of the chairs and haul herself into it, but her legs were still locked together in the locomotor mortis curse. She couldn't dispel the hex. Worse, it was growing more and more painful; the muscles of her legs were taut, tensed beyond human endurance. They screamed for release, but she was unable to relax them. She felt as though her leg bones were trying to fuse together. A second knock. "Alex. May I come in ?" It was Dumbledore's voice.

Oh shit. "Okay," she called. What the hell else can I do ?

The headmaster entered the room, silently taking in the wreckage of tumbled and broken furniture, the slugs and their slime trails, the tear-stained little witch sitting stiffly in her chair. He repaired another chair and pulled it up next to hers. "May I ?"

"Sure. Help yourself." Alex could feel herself blushing furiously. She stared at the floor.

"Is there anything you'd like to talk about ?"

"Um, no, sir. Everything's...fine." She blushed even more. Things are great. I just decided to conjure up some giant slugs. And trash my apartment.

"Ah," Dumbledore murmured. She risked a glance at him. His expression was politely neutral, his blue eyes kind. "I've just had a chat with Professor Snape. He's apparently not feeling well. I was hoping you could take his classes for the rest of the afternoon ?"

"Sure, no problem." Dumbledore was casually observing a giant slug as it crawled across his foot. Alex took the opportunity to shift her weight, trying to find a more comfortable position. She gritted her teeth; every muscle in her thighs and calves was screaming agony. Oh, shit. How the hell am I going to even get to the lab ? Now the slug was trying to climb up Dumbledore's leg. He leaned over and gently redirected it back onto the floor. Several moments dragged by in silence. Gods, this is so stupid. I'm not fooling anyone. She swallowed. "Um, Professor Dumbledore ? How are you at...um, removing curses ?"

"Finite incantatum," he said firmly, pointing his wand. Alex slumped as her legs finally, mercifully, relaxed. Tears prickled her eyelids. This time, she didn't bother to wipe them away. "You and Severus have quite a lot in common," the headmaster remarked softly. "For one thing, you're both incredibly stubborn." He patted her hand. "Although I believe you're marginally less stubborn than he. Severus wouldn't let me remove the curse that you put on him."

"I'm sorry, sir." At last, she met his eyes.

He smiled at her, his expression gentle and sad. "And you've both been hurt, very badly, I daresay." Alex shook her head, denying it. Dumbledore continued implacably, not bothering to argue. "Hurts that can't ever be forgiven, perhaps. You both put all that pain, all that rage, into your curses." He sighed. "Makes them well-nigh impossible to dispel." They sat in silence for a minute as her tears subsided. "Ah, well. Some things just can't be helped, I've found." His eyes twinkled at her as he stood. "The next Potions class is in twenty minutes. You're feeling up to it ?" She nodded. "The house elves will take care of the slugs," he chuckled. Dumbledore patted her hand once more, then left the room.